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KALAMAZOO, MI -- They're bracing the doorjambs and oiling the hinges on the set of "Lend Me a Tenor," at the Kalamazoo Civic Theatre. The Ken Ludwig comedy classic starts its run Jan 9.

"I haven't done a door farce since 'Noises Off.' And I've forgotten how much fun it is," director D. Terry Williams said.

A "door farce" is a classic form -- a specific "kind of zany physical comedy" -- and "Tenor" is "one of the top four or five" farces," Williams said. It won a Best Actor and Best Director Tony in 1989, and had a Broadway revival in 2010.

Jealous wives, seductive ingenues, mistaken identities, theatrical egos and a philandering opera star, all running in and out of the confines of a hotel suite, mean the doors will get a workout. "We've got six doors, and they're all used a lot in this comedy," Williams said. "You cannot possibly do this comedy without these doors."

This holiday season made the director nervous. This style of physical comedy needs to be choreographed as sharply as any dance number, but the Civic was about to go on a long break the day after this interview, "which is a little scary for a comedy that depends on timing."

But, "I've got a great cast," starting with actor/director Art Nemitz, seen last June in the comedy "The Sunshine Boys."

"He's got a great sense of comedy," Williams said. "He's so good and natural, he's setting a standard for the rest of the cast on how to set up a punchline. He really is instinctually gifted in that regard."

Nemitz is Saunders, an opera house general manager trying to keep control of the chaos caused when the great tenor Tito Merelli (Lou Price) can't make it to his starring role in that night's "Otello." His wife Maria (Joanie Melekian) has driven him to drink -- specifically, to drink a brew of tranquilizers.

If You Go
When:
7:30 p.m. Jan. 9-10, 15-17, 23-24; 2 p.m. Jan. 18.
Where:
Kalamazoo Civic Theatre
Cost:
$24-$13
Contact:
269-343-1313
On the Web:
Saunders grabs assistant Max (Ken Holda), who also has a great tenor voice, covers him with Otello makeup, and hopes no one will notice that it's not Merelli on stage.

Zaniness also springs forth from other characters played by Mitch Voss, Janet Gover, Coleen Bielman and Stefani Bishop. "And all of this zany action takes place in a hotel suite in Cleveland in 1934, so we've got that lush period with gorgeous costumes," Williams said.

It's a comedy that's "done all the time," but "Tenor" "is by far (Ludwig's) finest play." Williams is hoping that soon, "Lend Me a Tenor 2: Tito's Revenge," recently revealed to be Ludwig's sequel, will make it from script to stage.

Williams said he's having a great time at rehearsals, but it's a challenging piece. "Of course, it's hard work -- as they say, comedy is very serious business. But it's a great cast."

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Farce 'Lend Me a Tenor' will have the doors slamming at the Kalamazoo Civic Theatre

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Jealous wives, seductive ingenues, mistaken identities, theatrical egos and a philandering opera star, all in the confines of a hotel suite, mean the doors will get a workout. "We've got six doors, and they're all used a lot in this comedy," Williams said. "You cannot possibly do this comedy without these doors."

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Jan and Nick's bed, attractive as it is, can accommodate their verbal and physical wrestling, as each has ways of getting the upper hand.

These sorts of idiosyncratic bonds reveal how couples really operate behind closed doors.

The funny Mr. Elrod has a loose and unusual vibe as Trevor, the self-absorbed, angst-ridden boy-man who causes most of the play's fuss when he fights with his wife and flirts with his ex at a party. Ms. Manton is all contradictory dottiness as Susannah; I loved when the slyly violent hunger shined from her typically fretful eyes. Still, their muted attempts to work out their troubles are a bit of a drag on Act II, perhaps because of their choices, or because of how the play evolves, or because the first act has been such well-paced fun. Even a lighting cue earns a laugh. (John Demous is the lighting designer.)

The committed Mr. Drummond also earns laughs as Malcolm - though the part, pitched in high anger for much of the show, pushes him to a style of farce less natural than the rest of the cast's. Mr. Greer, whose Scottish Nick is bedridden with a wrenched back most of the play, draws similar tough duty, but amid the whining he convincingly finds the good sense and humor that give the character range.

Wholly outstanding are Ms. Hart's chirpily assured Delia (who has some of the show's best lines) and the irreplaceable Mr. Whitehead's stentorian, befuddled Ernest. Also strong are Ms. Lowrance and Ms. Karpen, with easy fluidity and lived-in depths percolating behind their characters' exteriors. The costumes by Laurie Churba deserve special honor, particularly Trevor's New Wave look ( the early '80s Bono called; he wants his hair back).

This production is not set then, nor in the mid-70s of its creation; there are contemporary set dressings (by Marjorie Bradley Kellogg) and varied fashions of our times, including the displays of one tattoo and a couple of chiseled bodies. The update mostly works, though when it doesn't - some lines and business don't fit in our cellphone age - it is a distraction.

But just a slight one. This 2015 "Bedroom Farce" rocks as confidently as Queen.

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Review: In 'Bedroom Farce,' Love and Other Jokes

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Jan and Nick's bed, attractive as it is, can accommodate their verbal and physical wrestling, as each has ways of getting the upper hand. These sorts of idiosyncratic bonds reveal how couples really operate behind closed doors.

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DC Premiere

Two cops. Three crooks. Eight doors. Go. In a cheap motel room, an embezzling mayor is supposed to meet with his female accountant, while in the room next door, two undercover cops wait to catch the meeting on videotape. But there's some confusion as to who's in which room, who's being videotaped, who's taken the money, who's hired a hit man, and why the accountant keeps taking off her clothes.

"The laugh-out-loud comedy has everything one can hope for in a modern-day farce: two likeable cops operating way out of their league, a supposedly crooked mayor with impeccable timing, his innocent-acting wife, a shy accountant with a penchant for dropping her drawers, a nervous double agent who'd like to get IN those drawers, a Scottish hit man whose brogue gets thicker the angrier he gets, two adjoining hotel rooms, simmering sexual tension and eight doors a slammin'." - Between the Lines (Michigan)

Reviews and Press for the Show

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Two cops. Three crooks. Eight doors. Go. In a cheap motel room, an embezzling mayor is supposed to meet with his female accountant, while in the room next door, two undercover cops wait to catch the meeting on videotape.

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Roundabout Theatre Company -- New York's leading not-for-profit theatre. Winner of 36 Tony Awards, 50 Drama Desk Awards and 68 Outer Critics Circle Awards.

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Jump straight to: Reviews | Awards | Full Reviews | News | Articles | Licensing Information | Production Photos | Video | Original Cast

" One of the classic comedies of the 20th century."
The Washington Post

Ken Ludwig on the 25th Anniversary of his play, Lend Me a Tenor

Winner of 3 Tony Awards and 4 Drama Desk Awards, Lend Me A Tenor is set in September 1934. Saunders, the general manager of the Cleveland Grand Opera Company, is primed to welcome world famous, Tito Merelli, Il Stupendo, the greatest tenor of his generation, to appear for one night only as Otello. The star arrives late and, through a hilarious series of mishaps, is given a double dose of tranquilizers and passes out. His pulse is so low that Saunders and his assistant Max believe he's dead. In a frantic attempt to salvage the evening, Saunders persuades Max to get into Merelli's Otello costume and fool the audience into thinking he's Il Stupendo. Max succeeds admirably, but Merelli comes to and gets into his other costume ready to perform. Now two Otellos are running around in costume and two women are running around in lingerie, each thinking she is with Il Stupendo. A sensation on Broadway and in London's West End, this madcap, screwball comedy is guaranteed to leave audiences teary-eyed with laughter. It was directed on Broadway by Jerry Zaks, and in London by David Gilmore.

For 4 men and 4 women. One set.

Ken Ludwig's Lend Me A Tenor at Papermill Playhouse

Listen to an interview with Ken Ludwig on Lend Me a Tenor with Cliff Roles of WTMY's "Roles Around Town"

From left, Celia Tackaberry, Doug Stender choking Seth Rudetsky, Catia Ojeda and Jim Poulos in a scene from Engeman Theater's production of "Lend Me a Tenor."

Reviews

Click to read reviews from the current Broadway revival of Lend Me A Tenor.

" A remarkable piece of theatre ... a masterpiece ... Author Ken Ludwig has verve, a sound grasp of plot mechanics and a rare ability to couple high art with low comedy."
The London Times

" One of two great farces by a living writer."
The New York Times

" Ken Ludwig's 1989 Tony-winning comedy is one of only two classic farces by a living playwright, the other being Michael Frayn's frenetic "Noises Off""
Daily News

" The most inventive, original farce in a long time ..."
Punch

" A furiously paced comedy with more than a touch of the Marx brothers ... A marvelous combination of wonderful farcical moments and funny lines."
Time Out

" Hilariously over the top."
The Manchester Guardian

" Fills the theatre with the sound of laughter."
The (London) Sunday Express

" Free flowing honest-to-goodness unforced farce."
New York Magazine

" It's hilarious ... The funniest show on Broadway."
WNEW

" A rollercoaster of fun for everybody in the building...a solid, constantly accelerating snowball of a comedy!"
Phoenix News Times

" The Big Winner!"
New York Daily News

" Non stop laughter."
Variety

" Uproarious! Hysterical!"
USA Today

" A rib tickling comedy."
The New York Post

" Screamingly funny!"
CBS Radio

"[A] three-ring circus of chaos involving celebrity worship, backstage shenanigans and mistaken identities."
Desert News

" One of the funniest comedies ever written. Ken Ludwig has written a crackpot comedy worthy of comic masters Preston Sturges, Billy Wilder or Howard Hawks."
Glendale Theater Examiner

Awards

2 Tony Awards - for Best Direction of a Play and Best Actor in a Play (Philip Bosco)

5 Tony Award Nominations including Best Play

3 Outer Critics Circle Awards - for Best Set, Best Costume and Best Lighting Design

4 Drama Desk Awards - for Outstanding Actor in a play (Philip Bosco), Best Costume Design, Best Director and Outstanding Featured Actress in a play (Tovah Feldshuh)

2 Drama Desk Award Nominations

Oliver Award for Comedy of the Year (nominee)

Full Reviews

- Broadway Production
The Wall Street Journal
USA Today
New York Daily News

- John Engeman Theatre Production
New York Times

- Northern Stage Production
Times Argus

-Edge of the World Theatre Production
The Daily Herald

-Cape Playhouse Production
Cape Cod Today

-Hale Center Theatre Production
Phoenix News Times
Vienna Production of Lend Me A Tenor starring Otto Schenk Reaches 450th Performance
News

Articles
Caldwell changes 'Tenor' with latest show Hunter Foster stars in Lend Me A Tenor at The Cape Playhouse Hunter Foster's accidental tour of New England Student Theatre Review: Bethesda Chevy Chase High School's Lend Me a Tenor
Jim Poulos, Neal Benari, Michelle Ragusa and Seth Rudetsky star in the John W. Engeman Theatre staging of Ken Ludwig's Lend Me a Tenor

Licensing Information

Lend Me A Tenor stars Anthony LaPaglia, Tony Shalhoub, and Justin Bartha featured on the Today Show.

Lend Them Your Ears
Watch Broadway.com's Word Of Mouth Review
Click here for photos of the Lend Me A Tenor cast!
Stanley Tucci, Anthony LaPaglia, Tony Shalhoub, Justin Bartha, Jan Maxwell, and Mary Catherine Garrison provide an inside look at the hit Broadway revival of Lend Me a Tenor.

Production Photos

Lend Me a Tenor at the Royale Theater, New York City
Directed by Jerry Zaks
PC: Martha Swope

From left to right: J. Smith-Cameron as Maggie - Jeff Brooks as The Bellhop - Philip Bosco as Saunders - Jane Connell as Julia - Caroline Lagerfelt as Diana - Victor Garber as Max - Tovah Feldshuh as Maria - and Ron Holgate as Tito

Tovah Feldshuh as Maria - Ron Holgate as Tito

Jane Connell as Julia - Philip Bosco as Saunders - Jeff Brooks as The Bellhop - J. Smith-Cameron as Maggie

Victor Garber as Max - Philip Bosco as Saunders - Ron Holgate as Tito - Tovah Feldshuh as Maria

J. Smith-Cameron as Maggie - Jeff Brooks as The Bellhop - Philip Bosco as Saunders - Jane Connell as Julia

Philip Bosco as Saunders - Jane Connell as Julia - Tovah Feldshuh as Maria

Lend Me a Tenor at Théâtre du Vieux-Terrebonne, Terrebonne, Quebec
PC: Sébastien Arbour

Dominique Pétin as Diana - Benoît Brière as Max

Adèle Reinhardt as Julia - Pierre Collin as M. Beaudet

Chantal Baril as Maria - Pierre Collin as M. Beaudet - Patrice Coquereau
as The Bellhop - Benoît Brière as Max

Cast of Lend Me a Tenor, Théâtre du Vieux-Terrebonne

Benoît Brière as Max - Dominique Pétin as Diana

Benoît Brière as Max - Nathalie Mallette as Maggie

Lend Me a Tenor at George Street Playhouse,
directed by David Saint
PC: T. Charles Erickson

Set forLend me a Tenor at the George Street Playhouse

Garrett Long as Maggie - Peter Maloney as Saunders

Patrick Quinn as Tito - Mary Testa as Maria

Romain Fruge as Max - Patrick Quinn as Tito

Alison Fraser as Diana

Patrick Quinn as Tito - Alison Fraser as Diana

Patrick Quinn as Tito - Alison Fraser as Diana

Peter Maloney as Saunders - Romain Fruge as Max - Patrick Quinn as Tito

Mary Testa as Maria - Alison Fraser as Diana - Garrett Long as Maggie

Caldwell Theatre Company, Boca Raton, Florida

Lend Me A Tenor at the Theater in der Josefstadt in Vienna, Austria starring Otto Schenk:

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Ken Ludwig - Playwright: Lend Me A Tenor

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Jump straight to: Reviews | Awards | Full Reviews | News | Articles | Licensing Information | Production Photos | Video | Original Cast " One of the classic comedies of the 20th century."

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Here's Megan Hilty bouncing down a stairway - bounce bounce bounce - and strutting her outrageous stuff in a pink beribboned bustiere, mouth agape and eyes betraying an overabundance of oxygen to the brain. Here, too, is Andrea Martin dueling losingly with sardines, which sometimes fly off the plate like birds heading south for the winter. Politically incorrect? Only if you're brain dead. This is , the Roundabout Theatre Company's happy antidote to all things January, a percussive dose of slamming doors, wince-inducing pratfalls and enough suggestive tomfoolery to fill the bill at Minsky's.

Michael Frayn's giddy backstage farce opened on Broadway in 1983, hung around for 18 hit months and returned a decade later for another solid run (the cast included Spotlight's Oscar-nominated director Tom McCarthy in his only Broadway acting gig). Carol Burnett and Michael Caine toplined Peter Bogdanovich's 1992 film adaptation. Being catnip to audiences, it's also irresistible to actors with any sense of clowning and an odd taste for the bruises that must come with performing this nine-clown, one-ring circus act.

Set in the British flyover, a touring company is halfway through its first and only run-through of "Nothing On" (speaking of innuendo), a comedy that is to open in about 15 minutes. The setting of the play-within-the-play is a country house with many doors on two levels, and the scene opens with dotty Mrs. Clackett (Martin), having completed her housekeeping duties, anticipating a quiet sitdown in front of the telly with a comforting plate of sardines. Answering a telephone call, she lets us know the owners are in Spain and the house is unoccupied. Not for long, however. Thinking it's the housekeeper's day off, real estate agent Roger (salivating David Furr) arrives for a nooner with eager-to-disrobe Vicki (Hilty). Further complicating matters is the equally unexpected arrival of the tax-dodging owners, Philip (Jeremy Shamos) and Flavia (Kate Jennings Grant) for an amorous anniversary celebration. There's an aging burglar (Daniel Davis) for whom such jobs are a distinct comedown from his glory days. Oh, and there's also a sheik interested in renting the place.

Desperately trying to manage it all is the director (wise-cracking, bulging veined Campbell Scott), who's been having it off with both his servile assistant (Tracee Chimo) and his star playing Vicki (yes, Hilty); and the stage manager and all-purpose understudy (Rob McClure, the most accomplished clown in the cast). Complicating matters further is the fact that all the characters are addressed by their "real" names. Each of the three acts takes place in a different backwater (Weston-super-Mare, Ashton-under-Lyne and Stockton-on-Tees), and they all consist of the Act I of Nothing On from differing perspectives as the interpersonal game of musical chairs-and-beds leads from one very funny calamity to the next.

Jeremy Herrin, the masterly director of, lets Noises Off wind up a bit slowly, but once all the gears are in synch, the show is a dazzlement of set-pieces fit together with jigsaw perfection. Martin, who recently astonished us on the trapeze in the revival of Pippin, returns to her roots as a mistress of the comic gesture, doing more with a plate of fish or an old newspaper than you may have imagined possible. Hilty, the Smash star who was enchanting in the Encores! revival of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, does physical comedy as though to the manner born.

Derek McLane's set is a perfect facsimile of a cheapo road-company production, while Jane Cox's lighting is, necessarily, more polished. The costumes by Michael Krass are almost as funny as the script.

And now to, let's call it "Noises On": Maurice Hines - Tappin' Thru Life, off-Broadway at New World Stages. Maurice and his younger brother Gregory, proper children of Harlem, started out as a tapping duet, grew into a threesome with their father called Hines, Hines & Dad, and continued working together in such shows as Sophisticated Ladies. Gregory eventually became the bigger star through movies and television until his death in 2003. Maurice, now 72, is back onstage with a show that recounts his adventures over a life lived mostly on stage and delivered mostly through the metal plates on the heels and toes of his dancing shoes.

But this is much more than "and then I did so-and-so." Indeed, if anything, it's a resolutely and oddly private affair, with key personal details glossed over. But under the fleet direction of Jeff Calhoun ( Newsies), and to the accompaniment of the Diva Jazz Orchestra, a nine-member ensemble led by drummer Sherrie Maricle, Tappin Thru Life is another tonic for the winter blues. Hines proves himself a thoughtful singer with a light baritone, and his tapping is undiminished by age. That's something he proves in the faux-rivalry he shares with John and Leo Manzari, a young tapping duo, also brothers, whom he has brought along just as the Hines brothers were taught and encouraged by the likes of dance legends Charles "Honi" Coles and Henry LeTang. And there's a sensational debut by 12-year-old tap phenom Luke Spring (who alternates performances with others).

All great, but what makes Tappin Thru Life positively soar is the brilliant arrangements played by the gifted Divas on such standards as "I Can't Give You Anything But Love," "I've Got You Under My Skin" and "I've Grown Accustomed To Her Face." There are tributes to Sinatra, Garland and Ellington performed with exquisite taste, blistering passages of tap - and a whole lot of swing. Don't miss it.

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Corseted Megan Hilty Lets Loose In 'Noises Off' & Maurice Hines Taps Pure Joy - Review

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Here's Megan Hilty bouncing down a stairway - bounce bounce bounce - and strutting her outrageous stuff in a pink beribboned bustiere, mouth agape and eyes betraying an overabundance of oxygen to the brain. Here, too, is Andrea Martin dueling losingly with sardines, which sometimes fly off the plate like birds heading south for the winter.

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Michael Doherty as Max and Jeffrey Coon as Tito in LEND ME A TENOR at Act II Playhouse. (Photo credit: Bill D'Agostino)

Ambler's Act II Playhouse is closing out their current season with Ken Ludwig's screwball farce LEND ME A TENOR-already extended until June 7 th! Ludwig is America's premier farceur, with several Broadway hits to his credit, but TENOR is by far the most well-known and the most frequently produced. Former Act II Playhouse Artistic Director Bud Martin returns to direct the insanity.

Set in 1934, the action (and there's plenty of it) takes place in a Cleveland hotel suite. Famed Italian tenor Tito Merelli, aka "Il Stupendo," is coming to town to perform Otello for the Cleveland Grand Opera's annual fundraiser. The company head, Saunders, has concealed the fact that they are in dire financial straits and they need his star power. Complications ensue when Tito's fiery wife, Maria, walks out on him (fed up with his cheating) and he is inconsolable. An accidental overdose of tranquilizers causes him to appear to be dead. Saunders enlists the help of his hapless assistant, Max-who is in love with the boss' daughter, Maggie (who hopes to have a fling with Merelli). The scheme the two come up with to cover up Merelli's supposed demise creates zaniness of operatic proportions.

I have to confess, I played Maria many years ago-so I knew going in that this is a very funny play. And Act II does not disappoint. Martin and his talented cast have amped up the energy and created some terrific physical comedy. Martin specializes in this kind of show, having worked on successful productions of Boeing, Boeing here and in New York. Of course, Ludwig's script is one of the best farces around, so they have terrific material to work with. Ludwig goes for broke with the craziness and the laughs are almost non-stop. But in order for farce to work, the actors have to play it for real. They have to be 3-dimensional people reacting in realistic ways to a crazy situation. This bunch nails it.

The first person we see is Maggie Saunders, an earnest sweet young thing who can't wait to meet Merelli. She loves Max, but wants to experience more of life before she settles down-and she wishes Max would stand up to her father more. Eileen Cella is absolutely lovely in the role; she has the perfect mix of sweet and spicy, and knows just how to set up the laughs. As Max, relative newbie Michael Doherty is hilarious; he gives the character a wonderfully quirky awkwardness that works perfectly-and his singing rocks, too. He does a great job of showing Max gaining confidence as the story progresses thanks to the tutelage of Merelli. Multi-award nominee Jeffrey Coon is fabulous as "Il Stupendo". Coon is an amazing singer, so the arias he performs with Doherty are fabulous, and his acting chops ain't too bad either. He is great fun to watch playing this larger than life character.

Current Act II Artistic Director Tony Braithwaite plays the head of the opera company, Saunders. It's a part tailor-made for his talents. He is very adept at physical comedy and the "slow burn". And he puts those skills to great use here. Tracie Higgins gives a solid performance as the fiery Maria, making the most of this 2-scene role. The arguments she has with Tito are a hoot. Act II Managing Director Howie Brown hits just the right notes as an annoying, pushy bellhop, and Linda Friday is lovely as Julia, head of the opera company's board-and her dress is a knock-out. Rounding out the ensemble is Mariel Rosati as soprano Diana, who's sleeping her way to the top. She gives this bombshell role a nice hint of vulnerability that makes the audience like her.

As always, the technical work on this production is top-notch. Dirk Durossette has created a beautiful hotel suite, getting all the Art Nouveau/Art Deco details of the 1930s just right-and managing to fit the required 6 doors to slam on Act II's intimate stage. As we waited for the performance to start my companion and I had a great time studying all the elements of the set. Avista Custom Theatrical Services created the lovely upholstered pieces that are put to hilarious use by the cast. Great lights and sound are provided by James Leitner and John Stovicek respectively, and Alisa Sickora Kleckner has designed some beautiful 30s style costumes-my favorite is Diana's post-fundraiser red gown.

LEND ME A TENOR is Ludwig's homage to the great comedies of the 30s like Bringing Up Baby. It is almost 30 years old, but is still as fresh and funny as when it was first produced. I guarantee you will have a terrific time laughing your cares away at this highly energetic production. It's well worth the schlep to Ambler to catch this gem.
LEND ME A TENOR
by Ken Ludwig
Directed by Bud Martin
May 7-June 8, 2013
Act II Playhouse
56 E. Butler Avenue
Ambler, PA 19002
215-654-0200
www.act2.org
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Ambler's Act II Playhouse is closing out their current season with Ken Ludwig's screwball farce LEND ME A TENOR-already extended until June 7th! Ludwig is America's premier farceur, with several Broadway hits to his credit, but TENOR is by far the most well-known and the most frequently produced.